and pope benedict, this surprise resignatio resignation. you have to wonder what might be behind it, whether it's health issues or something else. mike barnicle joins us now with his thoughts. mike? >> a stunner. that's for sure. the church has obviously been in great controversy over the last several years, as joe just indicated. the abuse scandal that began here in the united states has spread throughout the world. this particular pope came into the papacy as pretty much the departed pope's successor, indicated he was very conservative, from germany. he was in charge of priests who had, you know, been charged with molesting kids throughout the world, not only in the united states. i don't know whether it's his health. nobody knows much more than we've just reported on this story right now. it's a stunning, stunning development. >> there had been reports earlier that he seemed exhausted, that he seemed out of touch and disconnected. but we'll be following this story throughout the morning, mika. big news, again, coming out of the vatican.